After only five years, Lantana Golf Course will soon be a private club.

The club just recently reached 400 members and is just 100 members shy of what head pro Ed Garland said has been a goal since Lantana opened in 2002.

“It really won’t take too much longer for us to get to that point,” said Garland, who became head pro at Lantana last year. “It’s a testament to how great this community is and it shows the growth overall.”

Garland added the biggest advantage of going private is that it will create more golf tee time opportunities for members. The semi-private club is definitely growing considering it had close to 300 members last summer – including 12 members last May alone. The club itself has become known for its family atmosphere and strong amenities such as a modern-designed clubhouse with state-of-the-art locker rooms and a private members area. The course has played host to a top-notch junior golf program and state of the PGA Qualifying School in the past.

“It would be a great milestone to reach having been open for only five years,” Garland said. “It won’t too much longer. I’m sure of it.”

The club’s five-year anniversary is June 29, and there are plenty of things going on, Garland said. For starters, Garland and company are hard at work promoting the Lantana Junior Linksters 2007 Junior Golf Camps. Camps are currently ongoing, and most of the earlier sessions are already filled. However, there are still spaces open for the July 16 and August 16 classes.

The clinics are open to kids ages six and up and are designed to teach the fundamentals of the sport while incorporating several events to make sure the kids are having fun. Campers get six hours of instruction and unlimited range during camp. More importantly, the numbers are broken down to where there are six kids per instructor. Each camper will also receive a DVD with video swing analysis and instructional tips.

“We have this structure so that we can target their learning more than just going out there and hitting a bunch of balls for an hour,” Garland said. “There is a lot of focus on instruction, and our core group is between the ages of six to nine. It’s a growing sport and the most difficult part about it is actually taking the time to go out and learn it.”

Another big chore over the next six to 12 months is that Garland wants to completely renovate all 90 of the club’s bunkers. The previous goal was to focus on 10 per year, but they’ve opted to just get them done all at once.

“There’s no real timetable on how fast we can get them done, but it’s something that we all decided needed to be done,” Garland said.

For more information on tee times, the junior golf clinics, special events and/or instructions or how to become a member, please contact Lantana at 940-728-4653.